I first learned about the Orlando shooting after seeing #prayingforOrlando on a friend’s Facebook post. When I searched the hashtag, I saw the horrific amounts of headlines that read “50 Dead” “50 Injured” “Terrorist Attack” – and the one that made me cringe “The Worst Mass Shooting in history.”

I was so traumatized by the shooting that I completely read over the fact that the nightclub was a “gay” club. Perhaps it’s because after reading about an incident that left 50 people dead, I can’t focus on anything else besides the victims.

Maybe I’m a little too optimistic, but I expected more out of us as Americans. America has always been strongest and most unified when someone or something tries to attack us as a whole. A massive shooting, a terrorist attack, a traumatic hate crime – these things are literally what motivates us to change our laws and beliefs. Though we are so divided on many levels, death has a way of uniting us simply because it hurts us all the same.

So I thought Americans would see this attack as nothing more than a horrific act that needs our support, time and attention. But for some odd reason, we are focused on something as meaningless as sexual orientation.

Let me ask this question. When a police officer, doctor or firefighter is saving someone’s life, do you think they actually care about a person’s sexuality, what the person was doing or where the person was at? Their job is to focus on saving lives, not interjecting their own personal opinions about whether someone’s life is worthy of being saved.

In the same fashion, it’s our job as Americans to support victims of such heinous crimes. It’s our job to mourn with the victims’ families and to reflect on what could have prevented such an awful thing from happening.

But instead, we want to use this an as opportunity to argue about LGBT rights, which is a complete and utter insult to families that are hurting right now.

Do you think the Mother that just lost her child wants to hear your opinions about her daughter or son’s “sexual lifestyle”? I’m sure she’ll sleep well knowing that several churches believe God is taking pleasure out of these deaths in order to “rid our society of the LGBTQ community.”

Are we that ignorant and inconsiderate America?

Now is the time to come together and show that we support one another among our differences. It’s time to celebrate the lives of great people that we’re taken from this Earth just while trying to party and have a good time.

Now is the time to wave the American flag and stand up for the people that did not deserve such a horrific incident to take their lives away.

For those of you that want to continue to preach your opposition or hatred for homosexuals, understand that you share the same opinion as the shooter.

What also concerns me is that politicians want to use this shooting for political gain which is just as disgusting as the radical churches that take pleasure out of these deaths.

Donald Trump sought to capitalize on the attack but once again calling his notion of banning the nation of Islam for American as he called this attack “radical Islamic terrorism.”

Was it radical? – absolutely. What is terrorism? Sadly yes. But to go so far to sum this up as Islamic terrorism only expresses more hate. Pointing your finger at the nation of Islam is no different than waving it at the people that attended the nightclub that night.

It once again expresses hatred. How can you ban a specific group of people yet say that we are to be united as Nation in responding to this attack?

My fear is that if this doesn’t unite us a country and challenge the minds of homophobic people, that I’m just not sure what will. If seeing a mass murder in cold blood doesn’t make you feel outraged and sad for the LGBTQ community, then what will? How many people have to die in order for us to finally separate a person from their sexuality.

My heart hurts for Orlando, not only because of the deaths but because of the outcry of ignorance this has brought upon us. Only time will tell of how this incident will change our country. I just hope we can love more and hate less.

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